One of the Guys (7 page)

“Right, Brian?”

He jerked his eyes away from her breasts and found his sister standing next to him, chattering on obliviously. “Huh?”

She poked him in the ribs on her way to the sink. “You need a date for Dean’s wedding, right? I mean, we all want to go and pay our respects to the happy couple.” Her voice took on a hard edge with that last part and Brian had to smother a grin.

He forced himself to give Jaynie a nonchalant smile. “Wouldn’t miss it.” Jaynie flicked him a glance and then focused her attention on Kate. Kate was busy washing a head of lettuce and paying a lot more attention to the task than it really needed. She gave Jaynie a bright, sunny smile. “You know what would be funny? If he got drunk at the wedding and puked all over Kit.” But Jaynie didn’t take the bait. “I don’t need a date for the wedding, Kate. We already talked about that.”

Katie shrugged. It was a habitual gesture for her, one that said,
yeah
,
we talked but I
decided this would be better
. She’d been doing it since childhood and Brian knew she’d be doing it until the day she died. Knowing that Jaynie would likely butt heads with Kate over it, Brian interrupted. He didn’t know exactly why. If Jaynie argued with Kate and convinced Kate she didn’t need a date, he was off the hook. He wouldn’t have to spend several hours sitting next to Jaynie, standing next to her, dancing with her…

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Shiloh Walker

“I’m going anyway, J. We might as well go together. It will get Katie off our backs,” he said. He didn’t look up as he spoke, focusing instead on the tomatoes, but he could feel her gaze on him, knew she was watching him. He forced himself to glance up at her—one quick glance. He could do that without showing that she had him tied up in knots on the inside.

But that one quick glance into her hazel-green eyes had him remembering how she had looked four months ago, those eyes fogged with desire, her hair tangled around his hands and her mouth swollen from his. It had him remembering how she had cuddled into his body after they’d made love, and the soft, sexy little sounds she’d made while she slept. It had him remembering the night she’d come racing to the house, tears glittering in her eyes.

His voice was tight, rusty when he finally spoke. “You don’t really want to go to that asshole’s wedding alone, do you, Jaynie?”

She stared at him for a minute, silent and somber. Finally, she gave a jerky little nod. “Okay. Yeah. Whatever.” She looked like she wanted to say something else, but instead, she moved to the stove and started working on dinner.

If Katie noticed the strained silence in the kitchen, she made no mention of it. She chattered on about the new guy she was seeing, some rich investor who was putting up condos on the stretch of beach between Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. She mentioned that he’d invited all of them to spend a weekend out on an island he owned a little farther south. She kept up an unending string of chatter while they all worked on dinner and Jaynie couldn’t have been more thankful.

It gave her some time to think.

Brian was right. Katie was right. She didn’t want to go to Dean’s wedding alone.

Showing up with Brian was actually the perfect solution. She didn’t know if he would exactly hang on to her every word the way Katie had talked about earlier, but he was a nice guy and from what Jaynie had seen, he was very attentive to his dates. Just as he’d been that night—
Whoa
,
time
-
out
.

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One of the Guys

That
wasn’t a date. They’d had sex. A mind-boggling, breath-stealing, heart-pounding night of sex, but it hadn’t been a date. Jaynie hadn’t been looking for any kind of romance that night and Brian knew that.

Still
,
the man did take his time
,
didn
’
t he
?

Some grease from the frying pan splattered her hand when she stirred the browning sausage. Hissing under her breath, she turned away from the stove and went to the sink, shoving it under the flow of cold water.

When Brian spoke right in her ear, she jumped. “You okay?” he murmured, reaching around her and catching her wrist, bringing it out of the water so he could inspect the small red blotch forming on the sensitive skin between her thumb and forefinger.

Nonchalantly, she tried to draw her hand away but he kept his fingers manacled firmly around her wrist. “I’m fine,” she said. Man, was that her voice? All throaty and raspy. She winced and dipped her head, hoped he couldn’t see the sudden rush of blood to her cheeks. “Just daydreaming instead of paying attention.” Brian made a noncommittal
hmmm
under his breath and then he pushed her hand back under the water. He shifted away and she breathed a sigh of relief when his body was no longer pressed against hers. Her system was abuzz from that light contact, though, and Jaynie was left wondering,
What the hell is this
? There had been nothing remotely seductive or sensual about that touch, but suddenly she was remembering a night four months ago when he had held her wrists, one in each hand, as he’d pressed her into his mattress and pushed inside her.

Jaynie’s breath squeezed out of her in a wheeze. Her lashes drooped low. Her heartbeat kicked up a few notches and she was acutely aware of the way the air in the room suddenly seemed to caress her bared skin. She was aware of the way the lace on her bra cupped her breasts and that her nipples were suddenly hard, stiff little points that pressed into her bra.

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Shiloh Walker

Shit
.
Shitshitshit
. Jaynie jerked her hand out of the water and turned the faucet off.

She needed to get out of the kitchen for a minute. Get outside and clear her head. Or maybe run up to her apartment and jump into the shower for a minute, the cold water going full blast.

What the hell is wrong with me
? she thought. She grabbed a towel from beside the sink and dried her hands, ignoring the sharp little pain when she rubbed the burn too roughly. She was going outside for a minute. She couldn’t disappear long enough for that cold shower, at least not yet. But if she could clear her head, she could finish this up and while the lasagna was baking, she could grab that shower.

But she never made it even two steps from the sink. Brian came striding back into the room and when she would have ducked around him, he caught her wrist and brought it up, inspecting the small red mark. “It’s no big deal, Brian. I burn myself worse all the time.”

He just grunted under his breath and tightened his grasp when she tried to pull away. She finally relented and held still, watching as he unscrewed a small tube and used a cotton swab to dab some of the ointment on it. Immediately, the slight pain receded but he didn’t let go right away. His thumb stroked over the inside of her wrist as he murmured, “You need to be more careful.”

Then slowly, he let go. The second her hand was free, she took off, disappearing outside. The screen door slammed shut with a bang as she walked away from the door, out of view of the kitchen and then she turned and pressed her back to the rough brick wall.

“Damn.”

The screen door slammed shut behind Jaynie and Brian watched her until she disappeared from sight, a faint smile curling his lips. She wasn’t oblivious. He hadn’t meant to touch her. He’d seen her flinch and heard the little hiss of pain when the 52

One of the Guys

grease splattered on her hand and he honestly had just meant to make sure she hadn’t been burned badly.

But then he’d touched her, moving up behind and catching her wrist, his front cuddled up against her back. She’d reacted. He’d felt that reaction clear down to the soles of his feet and for a moment, he’d been too dumbfounded to think.

The past four months, she had treated him the same way she had always treated him on the rare occasions he let himself stay in the same room with her for longer than five seconds. He’d seen no physical signs that she even remembered that hot, long night. He, on the other hand, had suffered through so many hot, sweaty dreams that it seemed as though he was going through puberty again. Brian had lost count of how many times he’d woken up so damn hard and aching that he’d had to come or die from it. But the touch of his hand on his cock had been almost as painful as doing nothing at all. He’d wanted
her
hand on him. Her hands, her mouth, her body.

It had been agony made so much worse by her indifference.

Except Jaynie wasn’t indifferent.

Her breathing had hitched, her face had flushed and when she had turned away from the sink, he’d seen the hard nubs of her nipples stabbing into the thin cotton of her shirt.

If Kate hadn’t still been in the kitchen, Brian had a feeling he would have grabbed her and lifted her onto the kitchen island and stripped that shirt away so he could lick her nipples, bite them gently and fist his hands in the shorter, silky strands of her hair.

Hot satisfaction rolled through him as he moved over to the stove to check the sausage. It was pretty much done so he turned the heat off and moved to drain it. He left it sitting in the sink and then he headed outside.

Brian had to see her. Had to make sure he hadn’t been imagining what he’d seen in her eyes.

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Shiloh Walker

Jaynie heard the slow, purposeful steps moving in her direction and for one brief moment she was tempted to run. Never mind the food inside the house, or the lasagna dinner she’d promised Kate. Never mind the fact that this was
Brian
, the guy she’d known all her life. For the longest time she’d thought of him as the brother she’d never had.

Yeah, there had been a brief period in high school when she had entertained sappy, romantic thoughts about her best friend’s cute older brother. But that had been years ago, back before she and Dean had hooked up.

He came around the corner and she pushed away from the wall and forced a smile that felt terribly fake. “Hot inside,” she said lamely.

Brian didn’t respond, just stared at her with a focused, intense stare that went straight to her knees, turning them to water. She recognized the look on his face but before she could prepare herself, he reached out, hooked his hand in the low neckline of her shirt and pulled her close to him. His other hand caught her chin and angled her mouth up for his. He crushed his mouth to hers, swallowing her startled moan. He pressed his tongue against her lips and Jaynie opened for him.

A low, harsh growl escaped him. He pressed her back, crowding her against the brick wall behind her and then he slid his hands down her sides and under the hem of her brief skirt. The feel of his hands on her butt—big, warm and calloused—was so damn erotic. He shoved the skirt up, impatient, then he used his knee to spread her thighs, stepped between them and lifted her up. Brian lifted his head long enough to mutter in her ear, “Wrap your legs around me.”

Helpless to resist, she did and Brian rewarded her by rubbing the thick length of his cock against her. The worn, faded denim abraded the sensitive folds between her legs and the thin fabric of her panties slid wetly over her as he settled into a slow, rocking rhythm.

Jaynie had no idea how far they might have gone if they hadn’t heard a car pull into the driveway. They were on the far side of the house, out of view unless somebody 54

One of the Guys

came into the backyard looking for them so Brian took his time pulling away. His lips lingered on hers, the rough, greedy kiss changing to something slower, something gentler but every bit as devastating.

Even when he stopped kissing her, he didn’t pull away. Instead he skimmed his lips over her cheek and up to her ear. “I wake up thinking about you,” he murmured.

His fingers closed around one wrist and Jaynie shuddered when he brought it down and pressed it against the heavy length of his cock. Automatically, she closed her fingers around him, hating the jeans that kept her from touching him more completely.

“I wake up like this, hard as a rock. I’ve been dying to touch you again for the past four months.”

Her voice shook a little as she asked, “Then why haven’t you?” Brian nuzzled her neck. “You only wanted one night. The next time I saw you, you treated me like Katie’s big brother again. The guy you work with, not the guy who fucked you five times and held you while you slept.”

“Brian…”

He shook his head, pressed his lips to her mouth to keep her from speaking. “I’m not going back into whatever box you had pushed me into, Jaynie. You had me compartmentalized and you had me thinking that one night hadn’t meant anything.” He slid his hand inside her panties and cupped his hand over the mound of her sex. As he slowly pushed a finger inside her, Brian stared into her eyes. “But now I have to wonder.” He added a second finger and circled his thumb around her clit.

They both heard the voices, but Brian didn’t stop. Jaynie reached down and tugged on his wrist, shaking her head. Panicked, she glanced toward the corner and then she looked back up at him. “Brian,” she whispered.

But he kept going. He shifted his stance so that he stood between her and anybody who might look around the corner, but he didn’t stop touching her. He pumped his fingers in and out of her sex, fast and deep, never once slowing. Jaynie tried to close her thighs against his touch but, if anything, that only made her more aware of each deep, 55

Shiloh Walker

thorough stroke. “I’m going to fuck you again. And again. Hard and rough,” he muttered in her ear. “I’m going to hear you scream my name when you come. Then I’m going to take my time, go soft and slow. I’ll make love to you for hours, Jaynie.” She whimpered low in her throat and Brian smothered the sound with his lips.

Against her mouth, he muttered, “Quiet…you have to be quiet. Even when you come,
this time
, you can’t scream.”

The voices were getting louder and Brian heard Katie call him. Common sense told him he needed to quit. But common sense was drowned out by a lust that went so deep, it felt like it might consume him. Drowned out by a need that he’d lived with every day and night since he’d come out of the shower and found Jaynie had left.